{"id":2227,"date":"2026-06-26T15:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:04:19","slug":"with-lamelo-ball-traded-away-who-becomes-the-new-face-of-charlotte-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=2227","title":{"rendered":"With LaMelo Ball traded away, who becomes the new face of Charlotte sports?"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

You can argue about the merits of former Charlotte Hornet LaMelo Ball all you like \u2014 and I would argue<\/a> that the team never made the playoffs in his six seasons, that he was injury-prone and that the Hornets are going to be better off in the long term without him.<\/p>\n

Read more Charlotte\u2019s construction job growth is surging. Why one group says it\u2019s at risk<\/a><\/p>\n

You may disagree. In fact, many of you do. But what we can all agree on is that LaMelo was the face of Charlotte sports for all of his six years here, and that title is now open for consideration.<\/p>\n

Ball\u2019s rise coincided neatly with Cam Newton\u2019s fall. Newton was undeniably the face of Charlotte sports from the day he was drafted in 2011 until the year his career began to disintegrate due to injuries, in 2019. But he had moved on from the Panthers and was playing quarterback for New England in 2020, and that was the same year Ball got drafted by Charlotte.<\/p>\n

And Ball \u2014 thanks largely to the attention-getting antics of his father LaVar Ball, who was briefly a Panther himself<\/a> \u2014 was a bona fide social media star by the time he got to Charlotte.<\/p>\n

LaMelo\u2019s profile only increased in the Queen City (when he wasn\u2019t hurt) because his game is made for ESPN. It\u2019s all about extraordinary highlights: alley oops and slithery layups and 28-foot, one-legged stepback threes (he attempted the most threes in the NBA last season). It\u2019s not about defense, but defense doesn\u2019t make the 11 p.m. SportsCenter anyway.<\/p>\n

For me, while LaMelo and Cam were both highlight staples for years and the favorite player of every 13-year-old boy in the Charlotte area, they were very different in terms of their impact.<\/p>\n

Newton was the true big baller in that duo. He got the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015. He was the NFL\u2019s Most Valuable Player that season, becoming the only Panther to ever win that honor. He also led the Panthers to the playoffs in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The dirty work he would do on a fourth-and-1 to get a single yard, sacrificing parts of his body to do it, had to be seen to be believed.<\/p>\n

Ball, on the other hand, threw incredible passes (you could argue that he was more accurate than Newton, in fact). But he also never really won here. Yes, he didn\u2019t have a great supporting cast for a lot of those six years, but he also didn\u2019t elevate the team the way the best players can.<\/p>\n

The final month or so of last season was the closest Ball came to consistent greatness, but even then the Hornets fell one game short of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Read more Walk-up deli with Italian sandwiches and soft serve sets opening in NoDa Charlotte<\/a><\/p>\n

I trusted Newton in the clutch was going to get it done. I never quite trusted Ball.<\/p>\n

In any case, Ball is gone now, traded to Minnesota Thursday in a blockbuster deal.<\/p>\n

So who should the new face of Charlotte sports be?<\/p>\n

You could argue for Kon Knueppel<\/a>, who led the NBA in made three-pointers last season, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s done enough yet. You could argue for Brandon Miller, the Hornets\u2019 scoring machine who has the talent to be an all-star. You could make a case for a NASCAR driver or two, or even for high-profile Panther defenders like Derrick Brown or Jaycee Horn.<\/p>\n

But I think the answer is a simple one:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.<\/p>\n

Bryce will never be as glitzy as Cam or LaMelo. But he did direct the Panthers to the playoffs last season, the first time since 2017 they had made it. He\u2019s become an extremely clutch player, leading game-winning drives in six of Carolina\u2019s eight wins last season.<\/p>\n

Young is also still only 24 years old and he\u2019s going to be here a while. A former Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick, he\u2019s already under contract through the 2027 season. It\u2019d be a shock if the Panthers don\u2019t extend him well beyond that.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever heard a Young press conference, you know what he\u2019d say to the idea of being the face of Charlotte sports: He would be \u201csuper grateful\u201d for people thinking of him that way, but he would also say it doesn\u2019t matter a bit. That only the work matters, and he\u2019s focusing on the regular-season opener, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fine. You don\u2019t have to be flashy to have that title. But it sure does help if you win a lot of games. Young hasn\u2019t done that yet, but the potential is there.<\/p>\n

Read more Fourth of July uptown: 10 Charlotte rooftop bars and restaurants to know<\/a><\/p>\n

With LaMelo Ball gone, Bryce Young is the new face of Charlotte sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Charlotte Hornet LaMelo Ball, who was traded away Thursday, was the face of Charlotte sports for six years, succeeding Cam Newton. 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